CHANGES IN THE CONCENTRATION OF TOTAL VITAMIN C DURING MATURATION AND RIP- ENING OF CAMU-CAMU (Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc Vaugh) FRUITS CULTIVATED IN THE UPLAND OF BRASILIAN CENTRAL AMAZON 4.8. Andrade C.G. Aragiio M. A.M. Galeazzi S.A.N. Ferreira National Institute for Amazonian Research - INPA Caixa postal 478 69011-970 - Manaus (AM), Brazil Abstract The camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) McVaugh) occurs as a wild species in areas subjected to periodical flooding, and which cultivation in the upland has been recently initiated. The physical characteristics and chemical composition of camu-camu fruits from plants in adaptation to the soil climatic conditions of upland kept in the Tropical Fruits Experimental Station of National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) were studied. The camu-camu fruits were harvested at 56, 71, 85, 95, 104 and 113 days after anthesis and evaluated for moisture, yield pulp and total vitamin C. Analyses of variance (F test at 1% confidence level) showed a highly significant effect of maturation and ripening stages on fruit composition. Pulp content increased from 79.75 (56 days) to 83.16% (113 days). Total vitamin C increased with maturation and ripening, from 2489,33 (56 days) to 3133,06 mgr 100 gr" of fresh pulp at 113 days after anthesis. Additional index words: Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) McVaugh, tissue fruit vitamin C content, yield pulp, moisture. 1, Introduction ‘The camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) McVaugh) occurs as a wild species in areas subjected to periodical flooding. The plants are flood-tolerant and stay under water for up to 4 or 5 months (Keel et al. 1979). The natural populations produce between 9.5 and 12.7 tons of fruiVha/yr, depending on the fluctuations in the river level (Peters, 1986/87). ‘The Amazonian has great numbers of native populations of camu-camu. The fruits are used in extractive form. Current efforts to develop the native fruit resources of Amazonian are focused. The agronomic characteristics, phenological and ecological aspects are being assessed at research stations throughout the ‘Amazon basin (Peters et al. 1986/87). The pulp of fruit is strongly acid, Due to these special characteristics, the fruits are consumed in processed as juice, jelly or ice-cream (Zapata et al. 1993). ‘The camu-camu has perhaps the greatest commercial development potential among natives fruits, because of the high ascorbic acid content. However, the vitamin C level of fruits varies with maturation stages, and some factors in the environmental and cultural practices. ‘The camu-camu fruits were investigated for evaluate the physical characteristics and chei changes during maturation and ripening, 1 composition 2, Material and methods Camu-camu fruits from plants in adaptation to the soil climatic conditions of upland, kept in the Tropical Fruits Experimental Station of National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), in red-yellow podsolic soils, clay texture, under humid equatorial climate of Brazilian Central Amazon were analysed. For experiment 57 plants were randomly chosen, The extremity branches with about 80 and 90% of the flowers opened (anthesis) were tagged on camu-camu plants. The day of tagging (November) was taken as the date of anthesis. Sampling was done at 56, 71, 85, 95, 104 and 113 days after anthesis. The weight of whole fruit was taken individualy for 30 fruits randomly selected. Individual fruit was separated into skin (mesocarp + epicarp), seeds, and endocarp. Each tissue parts was weighed. The pericarp weight was obtained from account of skin and endocarp. For chemical analysis seeds were removed from another fruits (about 3 kg), and pericarp were than Acta Horticulturae 370, 1995 177 International Symposium on Tropical Fruitsconverted to a pulp in a domestic blender. Another sampling, seeds and skin (mesocarp + epicarp) were removed, and endocarp were blended. Analyses of endocarp and pericarp were conducted in triplicate. ‘The moisture content was determined by drying of sample in an oven at 65 *C to constant weight. ‘The vitamin C was extracted with 0,5% oxalic acid. The ascorbic acid was oxided with 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol, and total vitamin C (ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids ) was determined with 2,4- diniteophonylhydrazine method (Ranganna, 1986) 3. Results Analyses of variance (F test at 1% confidence level) showed a highly significant effect of ripening stage on fruit physical and chemical characteristics. The weight fruit showed a simple sigmoid curve. The rate of increase was slow at the beginning, got progressively faster (being fastest between 71 and 85 days after anthesis), and then slowed down again after 85 days after anthesis Endocarp weight followed the same pattern of whole fruits, but weight of seeds increased in smaller ratios than that of endocarp. The weight of skin (epicarp and mesocarp) reached its maximum at 95 days decreasing thereafter. The average weight ofthe pulp was 79.75% at 56 days, and 83.16% at 113 days after anthesis. A small net increase in yield of fresh pulp was observed (about 3.14%). Between 56 and 113 days after anthesis the moisture content was relativelly constant, showing that the increase in weight pulp was proportional to the increase in moisture, This pattern of decreasing and increasing in the pulp weight and moisture content corresponded with fruit and sample variability. The vitamin C content decreased initially (56 and 71 days after anthesis) but then, coincident with the phase of rapid increase in whole fruit weight, increased to a maximum at 113 days after anthesis. Calculated on a per 100 gr fruit weight basis, total vitamin C increased from an initial level of 2004.66 (36 days) to a maximum of 2605.76 mgr per 100 gr fruit (113 days after anthesis). 4. Discussion ‘The largest part ofthe fruit is the endocarp, which when added to the skin (mesocarp and epicarp) becomes also edible, giving a high yield of fresh pulp (pericarp). ‘The pattern of total vitamin C content of camu-camu fruit showed a significant increasing during maturation and ripening stages (about 25.8%). The results reported here follow the similar pattern with Peruvian camu- cami fruit (Zapata et al. 1993), except in concentration. The authors showed that the total vitamin C content increased by about 12%, from 8.64 (immature fruit) to 9.70 gr kg" (ripe fruit), ‘These differences could be the result of the tissue concentration, occasioned by differences in sample preparation. The authors analysed pulp (endocarp) without skin, ‘The comparison of separated tissue, showed the superiority of skin, confirming that the total vitamin C also differ noticeably between location in camu-camu fruit tissue. ‘Thereafter, the accumulation of ascorbic acid in different fruits varies a wide range. The concentration of fruit has been closely linked (0 environmental conditions. The light intensity, day length, temperature, and other environmental factors affect the vitamin C content. The upland conditions has high light intensity when compared with native habitat (Mapson, 1970), The date showed that the vitamin C content increased by about 25.8%. There is a drastic synthesis of vitamin C during 85 and 113 days after anthesis (about 40.54 mgr/day), indicative of ripening stages. References Keel, S.H.K. and Prance, G.T. 1979. Studies of the vegetation of a white-sand black-water igapé (Rio Negro, Brazil). Acta Amazonica. 9:645-55. Mapson, L.W. 1970, Vitamins in fruits, In: The biochemistry of fruits and their products. 1970:369-84, Peters, C.M. and Vasquez, A. 1986/87. Estudios ecolégicos de camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia), 1. produccion de frutos en poblaciones naturales. Acta Amazonica. 16/17:161-73. 178Ranganna, S., 1986, Handbook of analysis and quality control for fruit and vegetable products. Tala McGraw- Hill, New Dehy: 110-112. Zapata, S.M., and Dufour, J.P., 1993, Camu-camu Myrciaria dubia (HBK) McVaugh: chemical composition of fruit. J. Sci. Food Agric. 61:349-351 179